The Beirut Municipality building in the downtown area. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
Sectarian overbidding is coming from all sides about 10 days before the start of municipal elections, which are scheduled throughout May, and about three weeks before the planned vote in Beirut.This year’s situation in the capital shows an exacerbation of sectarian selfishness among almost all the protagonists, a sentiment that clearly dominated Thursday’s debates in Parliament during the examination of proposals aimed at amending the current electoral law for municipalities to introduce the principle of closed lists. The session resulted in an indefinite postponement of this examination, which tends to mean that, barring a miracle, there is little chance that a change will occur in the concerned voting method before the start of the vote.But what is causing so much passion this year in Beirut? Two main issues arise: on one hand, the...
Sectarian overbidding is coming from all sides about 10 days before the start of municipal elections, which are scheduled throughout May, and about three weeks before the planned vote in Beirut.This year’s situation in the capital shows an exacerbation of sectarian selfishness among almost all the protagonists, a sentiment that clearly dominated Thursday’s debates in Parliament during the examination of proposals aimed at amending the current electoral law for municipalities to introduce the principle of closed lists. The session resulted in an indefinite postponement of this examination, which tends to mean that, barring a miracle, there is little chance that a change will occur in the concerned voting method before the start of the vote.But what is causing so much passion this year in Beirut? Two main issues arise: on one hand,...
